'Govt has issued direction for setting up chemical parks,' says Mandaviya

The government plans to set up chemical parks in order to boost domestic manufacturing in the sector to meet growing demands, Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Friday.

“For chemical parks, I have given directions. Detailed work is taking place on it,” he said at an industry event. A dedicated cluster for manufacturing of chemicals is likely to be set up in the coastal state. This is likely to be in Andhra Pradesh or Gujarat.

The minister said the location for industry clusters should be decided by the industry itself taking into consideration their requirements.

“Which industry should be set up where this should not be decided by the government. The government’s role should be to create the ecosystem,” he said.

Mandaviya suggested setting up a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for development of industrial clusters. The SPV should be responsible for acquisition of land and creating other infrastructure for setting up industry.

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“The private association should keep the majority 51per cent stake and the rest should be owned by the centre and the state governments,” he said.

Addressing the same event Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Department of Science and Technology Jitendra Singh emphasised on the need for creating the right eco-system for the development of chemical and petrochemical industry.

The minister underscored the need for involving the industry from the beginning for any project or programme. It is an important aspect for sustainability as the next stage will be to focus on a sustainable economy as India is working towards achieving the target of net zero by 2070.

“We (India) have to live with the global parameters, and we are looking forward to assuming a global role,” Singh added.

According to Arun Baroka, Secretary, Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals, the size of India’s chemical and petrochemicals sector is estimated to reach $1 trillion by 2040. “It is the building block for the manufacturing sector,” he said.

“We are creating a facilitating environment for industry and a positive eco-system is created by deregulating the sector and supporting it through PCPIR (Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemical Investment Regions) schemes," he added.